Stark Bay Radar Station Base

During the Second World War, Rottnest Island was not just an Army base. While the Army made up most of the personnel on the island, both the Royal Australian Air Force and the Navy also operated there. One of the Air Force’s key roles was air surveillance. Radar units were positioned to scan the skies for incoming aircraft and to provide early warning of potential threats. These stations worked together with mainland radar sites, including Yanchep, Lesmurdie and Kwinana, to track aircraft approaching Western Australia.

The radar station at Stark Bay formed part of this air-warning network.

Stark Bay is named after James B Stark MP, who supervised Rottnest Island for the Rottnest Island Board from 1922 until his death in 1953. For many years the bay’s name was misspelt as “Starke” but this was officially corrected in recent years.

Establishment No. 32 Radar Station

RAAF’s No. 32 Radar Station was the only dedicated WWII unit based at Stark Bay. It was a fixed air-warning ground radar station.

The unit was formed at Fremantle on 16 October 1942 and was immediately sent to Rottnest Island by boat. Personnel usually travelled between the island and the mainland aboard the vessel Princess. Construction staff arrived at Stark Bay on 5 November 1942 and began building the radar station shortly after.

An earlier RAAF radar installation had operated at Radio Hill from 1939 but this was replaced by the newer and more capable radar system installed at Stark Bay.

By late 1942, the rotating radar tower and antenna system had been erected. Once operational, the station relayed information directly to the Perth Fighter Sector and to the island’s coastal gun batteries. The radar unit also provided daily weather observations for the Oliver Hill and Bickley Batteries, supporting artillery operations.

Building works were completed in early 1943. The station was accessed via a short bush track branching off the island’s main base road.

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Radar equipment and capabilities

The station was classified as a fixed air-warning installation. It used an AW or AW Transportable aerial, which was developed from Army SHD (Shore Defence) radar equipment. These aerials were large, heavy steel structures mounted on towers with electrically driven turning gear and because of their weight and complexity, they required substantial concrete foundations.

The radar equipment itself was housed in a concrete or similarly solid building. Unlike the antenna, the equipment building did not rotate with the aerial.

A pre-amplifier was added to the radar system on 1 January 1945, improving its performance.

Two documented detections were recorded:

            •  25 February 1942, a Catalina aircraft plotted at a distance of 395 miles

            • 29 February 1942, a Beaufort aircraft detected at 600 miles

Camp layout and facilities

The Stark Bay camp consisted of a concrete radar tower base and lookout, surrounded by a small cluster of huts. Later photographs and partial plans show the buildings included timber or corrugated-iron huts and were used for radar operations, often referred to as the base or plotting room, along with a small office, a radar equipment kiosk and accommodation huts for personnel.

Supporting facilities included a kitchen and mess hut, ablutions with latrines and showers and small storage sheds. A 2020 engineering inspection identified concrete pads and the foundation for a generator exhaust, confirming the presence of power generation equipment on site.

No detailed wartime construction plans for the station have been found in public archives, even though the site does not appear to have been especially secret or restricted during the war.

Personnel and daily operations

No. 32 Radar Station was staffed by a small mixed-gender detachment consisting of nine RAAF airmen and 18 members of the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force. All personnel lived on site in the huts.

The first WAAAF personnel were mistakenly posted to the unit on 5 November 1944 but it was not until 20 April 1945 that women were officially posted to the station.

Radar stations of this type typically had between 25 and 30 personnel. Command was usually held by a flight lieutenant or warrant officer. Radar operators and technical staff maintained the equipment, while ground defence and guard duties were also assigned. At Stark Bay, WAAAF personnel carried out plotting and plotting-room work, while RAAF men handled technical maintenance and site security.

Commanding officers

The commanding officers of No. 32 Radar Station were:

            •  8 October 1942  - R. W. Mitchell, Pilot Officer

            •  19 March 1943  - P. G. S. Jeffrey, Pilot Officer

            •  20 December 1943  - L. T. Malempre, Pilot Officer

            •  29 June 1944  - J. D. Balfe, Flying Officer

            •  14 September 1944  - R. M. O’Hanlon, Flight Lieutenant

            •  16 March 1945  - H. J. W. Williams, Flying Officer

            •  4 June 1945  - A. D. Lum, Flight Lieutenant

            •  20 October 1945  - J. S. Flett, Flight Lieutenant

            •  24 January 1946  - J. S. Meharry, Flying Officer

            •  18 March 1946  - G. Scholfield, Flying Officer

Japanese radar developments and their significance

In August 1942, Allied forces discovered that Japan had developed operational radar systems. This came as a surprise and marked the beginning of an electronic contest in the Pacific War. Until then, the Allies had not expected Japan to be actively developing radar technology.

A Section 22 intelligence report dated 2 November 1943 noted that Japan was operating a chain of air-warning radar stations similar in concept to the German Freya systems. These stations used antennas attached to operating huts, rotating through a full 360 degrees.

Despite technical limitations and early difficulties, Japanese forces were using radar for most standard military purposes by May 1944 and had established an extensive early-warning radar network. By the end of the war, Japan had developed a wide range of ground-based, naval and airborne radar systems, which increasingly posed a threat to Allied operations.

By late 1945, Japanese radar technology was assessed as being roughly equivalent to United States capabilities in early 1942. Although Japan remained behind the Allies overall, they were steadily closing the gap. In hindsight, the slower pace of Japanese radar development worked in the Allies’ favour.

Operational life and closure

No. 32 Radar Station maintained a continuous 24-hour watch for most of the war. The only reduction in activity occurred as the conflict drew to a close.

By April 1945, military barracks in Thomson Bay, the island’s main settlement, had been evacuated. The radar station at Stark Bay, however, remained staffed for longer.

The unit ceased operations on 29 March 1946. Dismantling of the radar began on 1 April 1946. All equipment was packed by 30 April and the unit was formally disbanded on 21 May 1946.

Physical remains today

Very little of the Stark Bay radar station survives today and what remains visible today, both on the ground and in aerial and LiDAR surveys, is the concrete foundation of the radar tower and scattered concrete pads or short wall sections marking the former locations of huts.

The area is now unoccupied bushland within Rottnest Island’s conservation reserve. Stark Bay itself is a marine sanctuary and has seen very little later development. None of the wartime remains at Stark Bay are formally heritage-listed and the radar foundations have no physical protection.

By the 1960s, the concrete bases were already clearly exposed. No formal conservation work has been undertaken and the site has gradually been reclaimed by vegetation. In recent years, Rottnest Island Authority (RIA) heritage staff have recorded the remains but the site is generally treated as a minor ruin and given low priority compared to more intact military structures such as the gun batteries. Any reports produced by the RIA do not appear to be publicly accessible.

Visitors who know what they are looking for can still identify the site by the concrete blocks and the remains of the overgrown access track.

Dismantling of steel towers

After the war, Saunders and Stuart, structural engineers based in Perth, dismantled three steel radio towers on Rottnest Island. One tower was approximately 180 feet high and the other two were about 75 feet high. The towers were taken apart piece by piece, starting from the top and working down. Each section was dropped to the ground and carted away before being shipped to Fremantle.

The dismantling process took 16 working days for the largest tower and 10 working days for each of the smaller towers.